Chapter 2

"This child appears to be from a noble family, is it alright to abduct her?"

"If she was a noble, she should have been accompanied by knights, right? Maybe she's just from a wealthy family; don't think too much about it and focus on the task at hand."

"But what if she was one and the noble family went on the search for her? Isn't that dangerous for us?"

"Even if they search the entire Avalon, she will not be discovered. Who knows... This lady could be the one who brings us good fortune. HAHAHA"

I woke up from loud laughter around me. When I opened my eyes, it was dark.

Where am I?

As soon as I asked myself that question, I heard loud honks from outside and we began to move. Somewhere nearby, I could hear a few sobs. I tried to move my hands and feet from that point on, only to discover that I was still bound.

"Oh? The princess appears to have awoken." They lifted the sack that was covering my face, revealing a group of bad guys smirking maliciously in front of me. I began to shiver as I looked around, surprised to discover that I was not the only abducted child. There were a lot of us.

"Oh? You're trembling..." A bad guy near me grabbed my hand, and without thinking, I yanked it away, which was a big mistake, he smacked me across the face, and I felt a searing feeling from my right cheeks, causing tears to form in my eyes, "You should've thought about your actions more, princess,"

It stings...

He pulled me up and hurled me to a group of bound children "Don't make any more trouble, princess. If you do, I'll throw you into the water. It will take three days to transport you to another country, so behave appropriately."

There I concluded that we're on a ship, being transported to another country.

They released our hands but left our feet tied at night. They only handed us half a piece of bread and no water to drink. The night was cold and we barely got through the night.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked one of the kids with me while the bad guys were fast asleep.

"We'll be going to a far away country." Answered one.

"Some people will buy us and be enslaved, beaten and may even be overworked." Answered one kid.

They have no expression on their faces and accept that they will live a dreadful fate.

Most of the children appeared to be street beggars with no place to call home, allowing kidnappers to simply abduct them away. I looked around and noticed a few crates, as well as one wooden door on the ceiling.

It seems like we're hiding beneath a ship to avoid being seen.

"Sniff. I want to go back," A girl around my age started to cry. I immediately looked back to see if a kidnapper woke up before consoling her.

"We'll get out of here, don't worry." I stroke her head.

"We'll never get out of here," stated one of the older boys. He was resting against the wall, as if being kidnapped was nothing out of the ordinary for him. He doesn't look a bit terrified, "Don't get your hopes up thinking you'll get out of here,"

"There must be a way," I said, glaring at him.

The kids around me started to tremble in fear and began to have negative thoughts in their head that began to eat them alive.

"He's right..."

"I guess we're just unfortunate."

"Don't say that," I said, "We will get out of here."

"And what can a mere tiny princess like you do?" As I heard a deep voice from behind me, my eyes widened. My hair was grabbed hard and I was carried to a dark corner before I could even turn around.

The children didn't spout a word, but cried silently as they saw me being pulled.

As soon as he let go of my hair, he slapped my face, continuously until his palm hurts. He grabbed my hair and smashed my head into one of the boxes, causing my forehead to bleed. I sobbed as he yanked my hair back.

"Please stop!" I screamed.

"HAHAHA Didn't I tell you to behave? You really thought of getting out of here? What are you planning? Running through the water?" He said as his face was close to mine. I can smell the unpleasant smell from his mouth and a hint of alcohol.

"Stop doing that, Bart. You're wasting your time; simply cover her mouth and shut up." One of the guys offered and tossed away the sack that had previously covered my face.

"Tsk." The bad guy grabbed it and put it over my head, tightening it around my neck before slamming my head to the wall, causing me to lose consciousness.

The next morning, I woke up after being doused by cold water.

"Rise and shine, Princess!"

My head hurts and when I touched it, I saw blood.

"Ahh... the princess' head is bleeding..." one guy said as he raised my chin and glanced at the guy who beat me up the night before, "You went overboard."

"Tsk. She's talking nonsense. How vexing," the guy said and began to munch on a few pieces of bread.

As he treated my wounds, the man in front of me sighed. I let him do it and didn't retaliate since I felt weak all over.

My head hurts so much.

"Eat now, princess... You've been unconscious for a day now, we'll arrive shortly in the country of Helwyn, so eat up," As usual, he placed a half piece of bread in front of me with no water.

I followed what he said and ate the half piece of bread slowly to avoid getting choked. A few kids had been staring at me, showing pity in their eyes, I responded to them with a faint smile showing that I was fine.

A loud honk was heard once more, and the kidnappers stood up, tying our hands and untying our feet. It was time to get ready to leave. They waited another hour until all of the crates had been delivered.

"Listen here, brats, make sure to stay and behave in front of our clients, if not, I'll throw you off the sea and die horribly. You understand?"

We all nodded.

Since everything has come to this, we have no choice but to heed their demands in order to survive. They make us fall in line with me at the end. As we met our clients above the board, we were surrounded by the kidnappers.

"Hmmm... who should I take?" A client with a huge body asked as soon as we fell in line in front of him. He examined each of us individually and drew two girls and a boy along with him.

Another hour passed by as the clients picked their children.

"I would have chosen you if it hadn't been for your wound." He caressed my face as he walked by. He picked three boys and three girls and left the boat with them.

All that's left now are 4 males and 4 girls, one of whom is me, and one of whom is the boy who's older than me and who claimed there's no way out of here.

"The last client said he'll take all of the left overs with him. His assistant is waiting so go now. You're lucky that someone is willing to take you; else, you would have died by now." The bad guy said, grinning at me as if he was only talking to me.

We were taken to an orphanage and worked as helpers there. I initially assumed there was nothing wrong with working at an orphanage because an orphanage is a home for children who want to be homed, but I was mistaken.

Everyone at the orphanage was a devil...